Method of singeing cloth and apparatus adapted for use therewith



July 7, 1942.

CQA. FRENCH METHOD OF SINGEING CLO I'H AND APPARATUS ADAP'I'ED FOR USE THEREWITH Filed May 25, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 1' .ll'lllllIlI Ill llll y 7, 1942- c. A. FRENCH 2,288,898

METHOD OF SINGEING CLOTH AND APPARATUS ADAPTED FOR USE THEREWITH 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 .July 7,1942. c. A. FRENCH 2,288,898

METHOD OF SINGEING CLOTH AND APPARATUS ADAPTED FOR USE THEREWITH Filed May 25, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 July 7, 1942. l c. A. FRENCH 2,288,898

METHOD OF SINGEING CLOTH AND APPARATUS ADAPTED FOR USE THEREWITH Filed May 25, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 July 7, 1942. c A. FRENCH 2,288,898

METHOD OF SINGEING CLOTH AND APPARATUS ADAPTED FOR USE THEREWIIH Fild May 25, 1939 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 Patented July 7, 1942 A 7 METHOD or SINGEING CLOTH AND Arm as'rns anar'rnn roa uss 'rnsaswrrn Charles A. French, Hollywood, 111., assignor to Mark C. Bates, Chicago, Ill.

Application May 25,1939, set-n1 No. 215,59;

- (c1. zs-s) 8 Claims.

My invention relates to methods of and means for singeing cloth, including a burner mechanism adapted to be used for such purpose. a v

The ends of the individual frayed-out fibers making up woven cloth are usually referred to collectively as fuzz by the textile mills. This fun must be removed at a suitable stage in the production of the finished cloth, a conventional manner of treatment being singeing. Two types of burners have been used in the past, each .associated with the use of a particular process of singeing. One type of burner has an open flame. and the cloth merely travels in contact with the open flame. Another type of burner is the socalled compression flame type. more emcient in some respects than the open flame type of burner, but having disadvantages of its own. Among the disadvantages of the compression flame type of burner is the difllculty of adjustment when going from a heavy cloth to a light cloth, and vice versa. manifesting itself in poor singeing results in the case of heavy cloth or burmng holes in the case of light cloth. Further disadvantages of singeing while decreasing the time usually siven over to this operation.

, A still further object is to provide a method of and means for singeing cloth which is applicable to substantially equal advantage to any type-of cloth to which singeing operations are usually applied. a

In carrying out my invention, I pass the cloth and general apparatus described in my issued Patents Nos. 2,122,684 and 2,123,887. The flame is caused to impinge the rapidly traveling cloth,

at such an angle that the major portion of burned gases follow the cloth counter-current to the direction-of movement thereof. Associated with the burner mechanismand in advance of flow from the necessary arrangement of the burner. Among these disadvantages are the fact that the flame is diluted by relatively cool burned gases, and, because of the closed area in which the burning takes place, there is insufllcient oxygen to cause complete burning of the fuzz. Because of the absence of oxygen, some of the burning occurs after the cloth leaves the burner, and the burning must result from residual heat :retained by the cloth, thereby bringing about a utilization of relatively low gravity fuel in such a manner as to avoid the fire and explosion hazards which have attended cloth singeing so frequently in the past. a

A further object is the provision of a burner mechanism particularly adapted for burning premixed oil air and oil vapor but utilizable to advantage in burning any premixed combustible fuel of a fluid type.

A still i'urther object is to improve the burner, considering the direction that the cloth moves, I provide means for producing radiant beat, this means being, for example, a layer the cloth that air is not admitted except as desired and as controlled by the mechanism involved. As a consequence, th area between the radiant heating surface and thecloth is substantially free of oxygen except for the small amount which may be trapped within the interstices of the cloth. At the side of the burner opposite that at which the radiant heating surface is the quality proportional to the speed of the cloth and, therefore, proportional to the demand. a

In constructing the burner mechanism, I provide burner orifices in the form of obliquely or diagonally disposed slits so that each section of cloth passes at least two flame sections. The burner, flame guards for obtaining the flame retention character, the refractory for producing radiant heat, and the air inspirating mechanism The air is inspirated in large are all produced as a single unit with which the various functions and details of the method are carried out by even the relatively unskilled worker in the textile plant. The burner, however, including the various parts referred to, is produced in a plurality of sections of standard length or width so arranged that they may be secured together to produce a burner mechanism of any suitable length which may be constructed as a multiple of the smaller burner sections. Between the burner sections, I preferably mount sealing partitions, which function as gaskets as well as separators, to produce a plurality of manifold areas within the hollow space defined by theburner castings, these manifold areas being -in dividual-to the various burner sections. plying each one of these individual manifold sections with combustible mixture at definite manifold pressure, uniform flame quality and quantity is maintained entirely across the entire singeing apparatus. I may, of course, provide a com tinuous manifold and useother means to assure uniform flame conditions. I

Since the burner of my invention is primarily intended for operation with vaporizable liquid fuel, and, since singeing operations generally require immediate starting and immediate stopping to produce uniform results, I extend a double steam line, comprising a steam delivery pipe and return pipe,'through all of the manifold areas of By suppanying drawings showing a preferred embodiment of my invention, wherein Fig. 1 is an elevational view, looking at one side of a burner, comprising a plurality of segments, which is constructed in accordance with my invention. This View is broken away to conserve space and is shown partly in section to more clearly bring out the relationship of the parts;

the individual burner sections, these steam pipes extending through closely fitting apertures in the sealing partitions. By this means, the entire burner assembly may be kept warm with the resuit that, when the fuel vapor is first delivered to the burners, there will be little or no condensation such as would otherwise decrease the proportion of fuel to airand thereby lean out lines is not lost to'any appreciable extent, but'is picked up by the combustible mixture as it passes through, and, by keeping the burner warm, its efliciency is raised.

The efliciency of the entire installation is further increased by the use of the radiant refractory which absorbs heat from the spent gases. In connection with the use of steam, I' wish to point out also that with my present invention I may also provide means not herein shown for immediately blanketing the area between the refractory and burner on the one side and cloth on the other with dry steam which will absolutely prevent injury to the cloth if it should be necessary to stop the cloth as it is passing over the burner. In this connection also, because of the advisability of being able to start and stop quickly, I may, in the same system, utilize spark plugs or other means for immediately igniting the burner as an incident in starting the movement of the cloth. While these features are not shown in the present invention, referring to them brings out with greater clarity the facility with which my present invention adapts itself to all of the problems usually found to exist in connection with the singeing of cloth in textile establishments.

Other specific objects and features of the invention will be apparent from a consideration of the following description taken with the accom- Fig. 2 is a plan view such as would be seen when the burner is mounted for the cloth to travel above it, this view also being broken away to conserve space and having some parts removed in some of the sections to more clearly show the relationship of the parts;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view, partly in elevation,

, taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1 looking in the direction of the arrows, a section of cloth with the cloth guides in position being shown to illustrate a preferred manner of positioning the burner with respect to the moving cloth;

Fig; 4 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of .the arrows, the figure being a fragmentary vertioal section taken through the end of the composite burner which is for-med of a plurality of sections; (the section is also along the line 4-4 of Fig. 6).

Fig. 5 is an end elevational view, partly in sec tion, such as would be seen by looking along the line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary plan sectional view, partly in elevation, taken along the line 6-6 of Fig. 4, looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. '7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 1-1 of Fig. 6, showing the specific construction of the flame guards and the manner inwhich the flame guards are attached to the burner casting. The view also indicates on a larger scale the relative position of the cloth, burner and inspirating means;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged fragmentary perspective view, partly broken away to illustrate the manner in which the burner grating parts are assembled with the burner main casting;

Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken on the line 9-9 of Fig. 1, looking in the direction of the arrows and showing the separating partition and ends of the individual flame guards in order to illustrate the manner in which the various burner sections are secured together;

Fig. 10 is a sectional view taken on the line Ill-l0 of Fig. 9 showing the sealing partitions between the sections in section and. illustrating the manner in which the heat and steam pipes are carried through the sealing partitions;

Fig. 11 is a perspective view of the main burner casting individual to each section Fig. 12 is a perspective view of the sealing partition;

Fig. 13 is a perspective view of one of the flame guards; and

Fig. 14 is a perspective view of the air inspiration plate which is mounted to one of the flame guards.

The singeing burner mechanism of the present invention, as previously brought out, preferably is composed of a plurality of sections so arranged that they may be mounted together to produce a burner of suitable length. Certain of the parts are individual to each section, and certain parts are common to all of the sections. For convenience in bringing out the relationship of the parts, I shall first refer to the main burner castflanges l3 and I1 provided with apertures, as shown, a main generally ovoid wall section It (see Fig. 3) defining an open manifold section l9, and generally horseshoe-shaped end flanges assaee's I 3 ated with a an air inspiration plate 52, the principal function of which will be described hereinafter. This air inspiration plate carries a pair 2| provided with openings 22 through which bolts may be inserted for attaching the sections together. At the upper part of the generally ovoid wall section it are three upstanding but sepa rated projections 22-22, 23-23 and 24-44, de-

, fining channels 23-28 and 2|--21.- At the lower portion of the generally ovoid wall section It is an apertured and threaded boss 28 for attachment of a fuel supply pipe 23.

Assuming, for the purpose of this description, that the individual sections are mounted together'to produce a relatively long assembly (the manner of attachment will be referred to later hereinafter), I provide a burner grating running the entire length of the composite singeing burner. This grating comprises a plurality of bar-like grating members 3i, each of such a length that, when held at an angle, such as shown in Figs. 2, 6 and 10, will extend substantially to the two inside wall surfaces of the members 23 and lie over and rest on top of the upper surfaces of the members 24. Between each pair of bar-like grating members 3!, I provide I a pair of grating spacers 32, each of which rests on the top surface of member 24 and has a projection 33 at one corner lying within one of the channels 21. This construction enables the grating members 3| and grating spacers 32 to be wedged tightly together to make a rigid leakproof. structure in which the spacers, 32 will be held in proper position, but leaving transverse slots' 3! through which combustible vapor and air may be delivered from the manifold is for combustion above and outside of the gratin slots.

The burner grating assembly is mounted in position by placing alternate grating members and grating spacers in the position shown in Fig. 8 and utilizing wedge members 36 and 3! at opposite ends which have the dual function of clamping the grating members between them and maintaining them at the angle of inclination which they are designed to have. The wedge members 36 and 31 are held in position by end members 38 and 39 in connection with which shims H (see Fig. 6) may be employed. The end members are secured in place by means which will be referred to hereinafter.

The burner grating assembly is also held in position in part by flame guards 42 and 43 shown in the-drawing as right and left huh-infarct, constructed so as to.be identical. The flame guards. have an apron-dike edge M through which cap screws 26 are inserted for attachment into threaded apertures in the members 22 of the'main burner casting. The base portion of the flame guards then overlie the top edges of the members 22 and 23 and the upper outside edges of the entire burner grating assembly. The flame guards also have an upstanding con-= tinuous projection 41 and an internal projecting lip 08. The projection 41 carries a pair of lugs 49 adjacent which are lugs ii on the main body of the flame guard casting. The function of these parts will be brought out as the description progresses. 7

One of each pair of flame guards has associof lug-like projections 53 which engage under the lugs 49 on the name guard, and the lower I inside face of the air inspiration plate 52 rests on top of the lugs ii. A generally angular portion of the air inspiration plate is provided with holes 54 through which bolts 56 extend (Fig. 3), the air inspiration plate resting on spacers 51.

The bolts 56 are secured in the flange I6. It

will be seen by referring specifically to Fig. 3

that the air inspiration plate 52 is thereby spaced a definite distance from the top surface ofthe flame guard 22 but has its inside edge spaced from the upstanding projection 41 because of the projections 53.

All of the parts heretofore described are individual to the sections, with the exception of the burner grating which, instead of being made indi-- vidual to the sections, runs continuously across all of the assembled sections, but which was described in connection with the description of the individual section in order to bring out the relationship of the parts. The remaining portion of the burner assembly may be described as a single unit because the remaining parts are all common to more than one section. The indi: vidual sections are secured together in end to end relationship by nuts and bolts 58 which extend through the openings 22 in the flanges 2f. It will be seen that the area of the flanges 2|, the relative positions of the holes 22 and the cross section of the bolts 58 may all be controlled to obtain any requisite strength where the sections are joined together, thereby enabling one to construct a self-supporting composite singeing burner of any requisite length such as, for example, to singe, sheeting or other cloth which is relatively wide.

Between each pair of burner sections, I provide a sealing partition 59 which, in addition to acting as a spacer or partition to make eachmanifold substantially individual to its own sec- 62 (see Fig. 12) which will be referred to here- I have already referred to the end members 38 and 39. These end members are secured to the adjacent flanges 2| of the main burner castings by nuts and bolts 63, and spacers, such as shown in Fig. 12, may be utilized, if deemed necessary, between the flange 2i and the face of the end member 38 or 39, as the case may be.

The end members previously described support the burner grating assembly in assembled position with the burner grating members and grating spacers in intimate relation through engagementof the triangular members 36 and 31. In assembly, one of the'end members, such as 38, is mounted, in position andy-by suitable means, the grating members are stacked and forced in one direction, adding a few additional grating members as the entire assembly-is brought up tight, until the proper number of grating members have been introduced.: If desired, in place the members are properly stacked and assem-' bled, the triangular member 31 being held with a clamp, the end member 39' is placed in position,

4|, the entire grating may be held firmly by the end members when the nuts and bolts 63 are tightened. This is merely illustrative of a convenient way of producing and assembling the burner grating, but other convenient assembling and anchoring means may, of course, be used. I find that producing a grating in this manner is preferable to cutting slots in a solid bar or moulding slots in a refractory, because, by changing the spacers, the width of the slots may be varied at will and the production and assembly operation is simplified and costs decreased. The materials going into the burner grating are, of course, such as to withstand thetemperatures to which they are subjected, as are also the burner guards previously referred to.

For maintaining suitable temperature in the burner assembly, before operations are commenced, I employ a pair of steam pipes 64 and 66 with a fitting 61 (see Fig. l) at the inner end so that one pipe may be the feed and one the return so as to assure the presence of a plentiful supply of live steam. 'The pipes 64 and 66, as shown, extend through the openings 6| and 62 in each sealing partition 59 with sufficient snugness so as substantially to produce a seal at these points. In order to seal the manifold, which is adjacent to the end member 39, I provide packing 68 (Fig. 4) which is wedged up into a generally triangular area extending around the pipes 64 and 66 and between the pipes and an enlarged part of the opening through which the pipes extend. Packing. nuts 69 threaded on the inside of the end member 39 wedge the packing tightly and produce the necessary sealed joint.

Running continuously along one side of the assembled sections is a supporting plate II, this supporting plate defining in general an obtuse angle as shown inFig. '3 and being secured at its lower edge by" nuts and bolts" to the side flanges ll of the main burner castings. The supporting plate is also supported at its outer portion by a series of brace rods 13 connected with rings I4 disposed on a transverse supporting rod or pipe 16 which runs the full length of the burner. A shoulder. brace rod 11, also carried by each ring 14, engages in special openings provided in the side flange ll of the main burner casting. At the upper edge of the supporting plate H, I provide a rounded edge 18, conveniently made by slitting a pipe longitudinally, slipping it over the top edge of the plate H, and then welding it at!!! as shown. Running continuously across or the length of all of the burner sections and supported on the supporting plate H is a relatively heavy-layer 8| of refractory or other suitable material'designed to absorb heat and act as a radiant heater. As shown, this layer of refractory 8| extends clear over and partly covers the flame guard member 43, and, by its shape, leaves a relatively wide space for the expansion of gases. The edge 18, however, being spaced relatively close to the cloth, for example, on the order Of], to inch, causes a speeding up of the gases and restricting of air and cold burned gases in positions where they are not desired.

assembly is also supported in part through the feed pipes 29 which engage in a common manifold (not shown) leading from a suitable oil vaporizer such as that shown in my prior patents heretofore referred to.

The singeing burner assembly is preferably mounted in the general position indicated in Fig. 3, and, to positively position the cloth with respect tothe burner, I provide a pair of cloth guides 86. As an important part of my invention, therefore, I include means for positioning the cloth with respect to the burner and the burner with respect to the cloth, although, depending upon the installation, other means than speciflcally shown may be utilized for accomplishing the purpose.

As a general rule, an installation made for singeing relatively wide cloth will be continued to be used for that purpose. However, at times it may be desirable to limit the burner to a smaller number of sections, and, for this reason, I insert in each one of the feed pipes 29 a valve 81 whereby any one or group of burner sections may be operated.

The general mechanical features, including the structure of the various parts and the manner in which these parts are assembled to produce the singeing burner assembly, are believed to be clear from the preceding description. In using the burner assembly, it is preferably supported on a suitable frame (not shown) of which the rods 16 and 82 form a part. Preferably also, the pipes 16 and 82 are so mounted as to extend across a normal path over which the cloth will travel in its treatment and so that they may be raised and lowered individually or together. That is to say, in mounting the burner in position, it may be supported with the burner firing directly upwardly, as shown in Fig. 3, or it may be fired at an angle to the vertical so that the cloth may be allowed to travel either directly horizontally or directly vertically even, although, of the two positions, the former is preferred. The cloth guides 86 are also supported from a frame so that they'can be accurately positioned, and a suitable arrangement, many of which are conventional in textile establishments, is provided for maintaining the cloth taut between the guides so that the position of the'cloth with respect to the burner can be adjusted accurately. In general, as previously described, the member 1 18 should be positioned approximately one-eighth inch from the cloth, and there should also be I about one-eighth inch clearance between the ex- With the brace rods 11 mounted in the position described, it is clear that the rod or pipe 16 acts in part as a support for the entire burner assembly, including the main burner casting. I also provide a second supporting rod or pipe 62 with a series of support rods 83 carried by rings 84 and engaging in the side flange IS. The entire tension 41 of the frame guide 42 and the cloth.

The remaining parts of the burner will then be automatically positioned because of the structural arrangement. Before starting the singeing operation, steam is preferably passed through the pipes 64 and 66 to preliminarily heat the burner, and the passage of steam through the pipes may be continued, if desired, during operations. The

cloth is then threaded into position and the burning and prevents the flame being forced away from the burner and, therefore, being exable those skilled in the art to understand and practice the same, and have described the burner heat, and the radiant heat from the refractory plus the hot gases preheats the cloth and starts the singeing operation, particularly so far as the surface fuzz is concerned. The movement of the cloth causes a slight suction in the other direction (that is, to the left, looking at Fig. 3), thereby entraining some air at the upper edge of the air inspiration plate 52 thereby drawing air in the path indicated by the arrows at a point very close to the burner flame. This is controlled so that Just enough air is admitted to complete the singeing. In addition to overcoming the objections heretofore noted, and securing other advantages suggested hereinabove, the following advantages may be pointed out.

Since the flame from the burner strikes the cloth at an angle, there is no likelihood of burning cloth, even light fabrics. This directioning of the flame also causes the hot gases to flow counter to the direction of movement of the cloth and heat the refractory surface which becomes hot and provides a maximum amount of preheat from the waste gases and also conserves heat for a useful purpose, particularly in that such destructive distillation of surface fuzz as occurs is accomplished in great part in the preheat area. The positioning of the cloth about one-eighth inch away from the flame guard and the outer edge of the burner allows the gases to waste at high velocity with some of the advantages already pointed out. In addition to absolutely controlling the character of the flame, it may be pointed out also that, bythe burner construction which I employ, inspiration of cool burned gases is prevented and the clogging of the burner orifices is very eifectively avoided. I have already referred to some of the advantages of using the individual sections. To these advantages may be added the fact that, in case of damage, it is only necessary to replace a single section and these sections, made preferably in about six-inch lengths, are made up of separate identical parts which are easily andinexpensively replaced. For example, an entire section may be replaced or an air inspirating plate individual to one section may be replaced or a flame guard may be replaced. Another advantage of the separate sections is that absolute uniformity of flame quality may be maintained entirely across the burner, an effect which could not be so readily attained if a single long manifold were employed.

I have referred in some instances to the types of materials preferably employed, but those skilled in the art understand that the materials throughout in general are selected in accordance with the conditions to which they aresubjected and the functions desired. Those parts exposed to heat may be either high grade heat resisting casting, such as in the flame guards, or they may be made of heat resisting stainless sheet metal where forming operations are required, as, for example, in the case of the air inspiration plate or the burner grating members. I wish also to point out that where I refer to the flame, or flame tip, I, employ the expression in the conventional sense to mean that operation in which burning of fuel occurs.

I have described my invention in detail to enas a singeing burner, even though some of its features may be applicable to other uses. The invention clearly is not limited by the description, but only by the scope of the attached claims.

What I claim as new and desire to protect by Letters Patent of the tlnited'States is:

1. The method of singeing cloth which comprises producing a combustible mixture of air and oil vapor, burning said mixture in a flame retention type of burner so as to produce a blue substantially neutral flame, passing a strip of cloth continuously incontact with tips of the burner flame, and inspirating a small proportion of airand contacting the cloth therewith at an area immediately adjacent to one edge of the flame.

2. The method of singeing cloth which oomprises producing a. combustible mixture of air and oil vapor, burning said mixture in a flame retention type of burner, so as to produce a blue substantially neutral flame, passing a strip of cloth continuously in contact with tips of the burner flame, inspirating a small proportion of air and contacting the cloth therewith at an. area immediately adjacent to 'one edge of the flame, and delivering hot products of combustion of said flame along the cloth and in contact with a reiractory material in a direction counter to the direction of movement of the cloth.

3. A burner device of the class described comprising a burner, a refractory member at one side of the burner, guide means for cloth to be singed positioned to direct hot gases from the burner into contact with said refractory member, and means for delivering air to the cloth at the side of the burner opposite to that at which said refractory member is positioned.

4. In a. cloth singeing burner mechanism, means for; producing a substantially neutral flame running transversely of the cloth, amember adapted on being heated to produce a radiant heat, means for causing said neutral flame to impinge said cloth and cause the hot gases therefrom to pass over said member to heat the same, and means permitting discharge of said hot gases around the margin of the burner mechanism, and between the said mechanism and the cloth, and means for introducing a small proportion of air near the burner to complete the singeing of the cloth within the confines of the burner mechanism,

5. A burner of the character described, comprising a plurality of hollow burner sections secured together to produce a relatively long coming, a burner grating having a plurality of spaced parallel diagonal slots, said grating extending over said top opening and along (#1 of said sections, flame guards secured to said sections and partly covering said burner grating, said flame guards having inwardly rojecting lips whereby to retain a flame resul ing from the burning of combustible mixture passing said grating, means to deliver a combustible mixture separately to each burner section, a layer of refractory supportedat one side of said burner adjacent one flame guard, and an air inspiration plate opposite thereto and associated with the opposite flame guard.

6.'In a cloth singeing burner mechanism, a burner grating, a plurality of burner castings to which said grating is common, said burner castings comprising individual manifolds, means to secure said burner castings together to produce a composite manifold structure, partitions between said burner castings whereby to produce individual manifold sections, one common to each casting, means to deliver a combustible mixture at substantially uniform pressure to all oii said manifold sections, whereby to obtain substantially aaeaeaa 3. In a cloth singeing burner mechanism, a

. burner grating, a manifold through which a comuniform flame conditions entirely across said.

burner grating, flame guards at each side of said burner grating, the flame guards being in sections, two sections being common to each burner casting, and an air inspiration plate secured to but spaced from the flame guard sections at one side of the grating.

7. In a cloth singeing burner mechanism, a

' burner grating, a manifold through which a combustible mixture of air and vaporous fuel is adapted to be delivered to the burner grating, said combustible mixture adapted to be maintained at uniform pressure, whereby substantially uni form flame conditions may be maintained substantially entirely across the burner grating, flame guards at each side of the burner grating, an air inspiration plate secured to but spaced from the flame guard at one side of the grating, a refractory element supported at the opposite side of the burner grating to that occupied by i the air inspiration plate, the cloth being adapted to travel in a direction to pass in order the refractory element, tips of the flame projecting from between said flame guards, and the air inspiration plate, and guides to hold said cloth in spaced relation to said refractory element and air inspiration plate, whereby to permit exhaust gases to pass over said refractory element to maintain it in heated condition, and substantially to exclude air therefrom.

CHARLES A. FRENCH. 

